The sinking of the barge, Van Santvoord, about seven miles west of the Saybrook Light, on the morning of February 6th, 1895, may seem like pretty small potatoes compared to some of the other ship disasters I have detailed, but for one family the event was truly devastating. The barge was manned by a three-man crew, all brothers; James, Andrew and George Wynkoop. Two of them died, one survived.

    The Wynkoop brothers were originally from Lloyd, Ulster County, in upstate New York, but James, who was the captain of the barge, moved to East Providence, Rhode Island, sometime before 1887, where he married Miss Harriet A. Harrington, the daughter of a sea captain, Isaac Harrington. James and Harriet had three children, only one of which survived the death of their father. Her name was Elizabeth R. Wynkoop and she was just shy of her eighth birthday the day her father died.

    Weather reports suggest that New York and New England were experiencing a cold-snap of lethal proportions the night that Capt. Andrew Snow, of the tug Aries, left Stratford, Connecticut. He had put in there earlier in the day to escape a gale and the terrific sea that was running in the Long Island Sound. Newspaper reports in Hartford and Boston report temperatures of ten degrees below zero that night.

    The Aries was bound for Providence and New-Bedford, towing five barges of coal. By 11 o'clock that night the wind had settled down and Captain Snow decided to start for Providence, leaving open the option to put in at New London if the weather took a turn for the worse.

    By 5:30 the next morning the winds had increased to gale force and the sea was being lashed into a foam that broke over the tug and threatened the barges she was towing. Suddenly the Van Santvoord begun to settle in the water. The sea washed the deckhouse and hatch covers off and the hawser parted. James Wynkoop, the captain of the barge, went adrift on one and his brother, Andrew, the cook, on the other. George was washed overboard and drowned.

    The Aries went to their rescue and hauled them aboard. They were frozen and almost exhausted. James was unconscious and in less than half an hour he was dead. Andrew's hands and ears were badly frost-bitten and he was in great pain, but he did survive. They were unable to recover George's body.

    The Aries was clad in an armor of ice when she arrived in New London, a fitting bier for James Wynkoop.

    James, Andrew and George were the sons of John and Ellen (Degraff) Wynkoop of Lloyd, Ulster County, New York. John and Ellen had twelve children, ten boys and two girls. John was a butcher. When I get the time I'll put up what I know about their family history.

    Chris.

Barge Van Santvoord Lost, Three Men Washed Overboard.
     From the New York Times, Thursday, 7 February, 1895, p. 5.

Another Sound Disaster.
     From the Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut, Thursday, 7 February, 1895.

Watery Grave.
     From the Boston Daily Globe, Thursday, 7 February, 1895.